Torch

The ThraddashTorch is the pride and joy of Thraddash Culture Nineteen. It is very small, but its maneuverability and its powerful afterburners make it a serious contender even against AI-controlled large ships.

The Torch's main weapon is the medium-range Mark-VI blaster. Its four-megawatt energy discharge is pretty weak, killing only one crew per shot, but it does have some surprising characteristics, such as resistance to the EarthlingCruiser's point-defense lasers, and the UmgahDrone's anti-matter cone.
In the right hands, it can be a quite effective weapon.

The secondary 'weapon' of the Torch isn't truly a weapon, but a secondary propulsion system known as the Reeunk Afterburner. The Reeunk afterburner accelerates the Torch to incredible speeds and leaves in its wake a fiery trail of ionized plasma that, while still hot, can cripple enemy ships in seconds should one be following too closely. Each of these fiery balls of plasma kills two crew members when struck, though the Torch is unaffected and will pass through the trail unharmed. It is so useful in an offensive capacity that most Thraddash pilots consider it to be the primary weapon on the Torch. However, human-controlled opponents will generally avoid the trail, thus transforming it into a simple evasion ability.

The Reeunk Afterburner is a relatively recent addition to the Torch. Earlier revisions of this ship were armed only with the Mark-VI Blaster and therefore deemed too ineffective for combat by the Ur-Quan. Once they became Battle Thralls, the Thraddash were ordered to "guard the rear" by staying in their home territory. Now that their ships have been improved, the Thraddash would love nothing more than to try them out against another race and thus prove their worth to the Ur-Quan.

The most popular tactic employed with this ship against the AI is to "cast a net" with the afterburners such that the enemy ship flies into it and takes damage. Against large capital ships, this is no problem, but against more maneuverable ships, luring them near a gravity well might be required first.